Thoughts about writing, and the universe.
Every October, our school stops classes for a week. We devote the time to special projects--some students are organizing a march against human trafficking in our nearby city of Førde; some are helping out on a local farm; others are job-shadowing in Bergen; a few groups are on three-day hikes in the mountains. My husband... Continue Reading →
School is busy. I'm behind on grading. A lot of my work time I'm needing to devote to lesson planning, and then there have a been a lot of additional meetings with students recently. And on top of it all, this last week, everything was put on hold because of the annual UWC Day celebration,... Continue Reading →
In this busy autumn term at school, I've been taking time to write when I can. I have a daily goal of devoting 85 minutes to my writing each day (and I include in that time blogging here on Words Like Trees, sending out story submissions, meeting with my writing group, as well as my... Continue Reading →
The school year began with two weeks of rain. We bustled to class under umbrellas, hiked through spattering mist, scraped mud from our boots and ran the shoe-drier nonstop. "Summer's over," we said. The moment we returned to Norway, fall began. But somehow the last week of August, the sky cleared. The mist that always... Continue Reading →
Over the last year, I have been reading parts of Patience Gray's Honey from a Weed: Fasting and Feasting in Tuscany, Catalonia, the Cyclades and Apulia. Gray traces the food traditions of rural people along Europe's Mediterranean coast, interspersed with stories of the people she met and learned from while she was living in each... Continue Reading →
I'm only up for a short post today. I've had a lot of evening events during the last week. I'm behind on grading papers. I'm squeezing out some time to keep up with my writing, but only a bit. We're trying to figure out summer plans. Things keep rushing on and keeping up's a challenge.... Continue Reading →
We managed to find a turkey this year for our school's Thanksgiving celebration. Turkeys are not common here in Norway--last year we had the school celebration earlier, and not until a few weeks afterward did we find a turkey in the shop. We made three very cute roast chickens instead. This year, we found a... Continue Reading →
For years, we have been planning a dinner with colleagues. The idea first arose two or three years ago--my husband and I are hobby cheesemakers, and two of our colleague-friends come from India and make delicious food. When we mentioned once that we had made paneer over the weekend, our colleague hatched the plan: you... Continue Reading →
I thought the last few weeks, with IB exams finished, wrapping up loose ends of the year, I thought the last weeks would be calm and quiet. I thought I would have time for myself, for writing and thinking, exercise and sitting doing nothing. There certainly were a few calm days, but things have reared... Continue Reading →
Fall and spring, we have a project-week at school, when students and staff organize a great array of learning away from normal classes. There are several projects going on simultaneously, and students opt for one. Last spring, my husband and I led a slam poetry workshop. This past fall, students approached me with a project... Continue Reading →
Words like trees 